The True Scope of Ibadah: Kindness as an Act of Worship

The True Scope of Ibadah

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. And the end is due to those who are mindful of Him. Peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and all his companions.

I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Respected brothers, elders, mothers and sisters. Many a times when we think of the word Ibadah, or when someone mentions the word Ibadah, we often think of Salah, of Siyam, of Zakah, of recitation of Qur'an, dhikr of Allah. These are the types of actions that raise to our mind.

However, when we look at the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ, then we learn that the definition of Ibadah — the definition, the scope of worshipping Allah — extends far beyond our Salah, our fasting, our Zakah, our charity, our recitation of the Qur'an, and so on and so forth. Rasulullah ﷺ mentions in one hadith:

(Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat lil-Tabarani; also referenced in Ibn Abi al-Dunya, Qadha' al-Hawa'ij)

The most beloved of all actions in the sight of Allah — happiness that you place within a fellow believer. Some sort of joy, some sort of happiness that you bring to your fellow believer. Nabi ﷺ says that this is the most beloved of all actions to Allah.

The Prophet ﷺ and the Lives of Those Around Him

When you look at the life of the Prophet ﷺ, then the life of Nabi ﷺ wasn't just restricted to the Masjid. It wasn't that the Prophet ﷺ was always in the Masjid, always performing Salah, always reciting Qur'an. No, rather you see that the Prophet ﷺ was heavily involved in the matters of his companions. Somebody was sick, the Prophet ﷺ would go and he would visit them. If somebody was going through some difficulty, Nabi ﷺ would do his best to try and help that individual out. If somebody had lost a loved one, the Prophet ﷺ would go and he would offer words of comfort and solace to that person.

The Story of Jabir ibn Abdillah رضي الله عنه

There's an incident of Jabir رضي الله عنه which is mentioned in the books of Hadith. And I want to mention this to show how the Prophet ﷺ tapped into the lives of those around him. How the Prophet ﷺ added meaning and value to the lives of those around him. How he made those around him feel special. Those who were downtrodden in society, those who people didn't want to give a second glance to, those who felt like they had no place in society — the Prophet ﷺ raised them. The Prophet ﷺ brought a smile to their faces.

So Jabir رضي الله عنه — on the occasion of Dhat al-Riqa, as the Prophet ﷺ and the companions are returning — Nabi ﷺ notices that Jabir رضي الله عنه was all the way in the back of the army. So the Prophet ﷺ comes to Jabir رضي الله عنه and he sees that his camel is moving very, very slowly. So:

"O Jabir, what is the matter? Why is your camel moving so slowly? You are lagging behind the entire army."

Jabir رضي الله عنه says:

"O Prophet ﷺ, my camel is very, very fatigued. It's not able to move very fast. That's why I am lagging behind the entire army."

Nabi ﷺ tells Jabir رضي الله عنه:

"O Jabir, make your camel kneel down." So Jabir رضي الله عنه makes the camel kneel down. And he had a staff in his hand. The Prophet ﷺ said:

"O Jabir, can I see your staff?" So Jabir رضي الله عنه gives the staff to the Prophet ﷺ.

Nabi ﷺ gently strikes the camel. And then he tells Jabir رضي الله عنه:

"Now take the name of Allah and get back onto your camel and ride." So Jabir رضي الله عنه says, I got back onto the camel. I said Bismillah. And I started riding. And my camel was now moving very, very swiftly. It was moving faster than everyone else.

So he says in the narration of Sahih Muslim:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 22, Hadith 1579)

"My camel was moving so fast, I had to grab the reins. And I was trying to control it, because I didn't want to ride in front of the Messenger ﷺ."

This was the adab — this was the etiquette. The respect that Allah taught the Sahaba رضي الله عنهم: don't ever go in front of the Prophet ﷺ. So Jabir رضي الله عنه said, I did not want to go in front of Nabi ﷺ. So I was grabbing the reins, trying to keep my camel back.

فَمَا أَقْدِرُ عَلَيْهِ — But I wasn't able to. My camel was just moving so quickly. It was going in front of everyone. You know sometimes you're driving on the highway, and then you see one car comes from behind — it just zooms past everyone. It cuts through all the traffic, left and right. That was like the camel of Jabir رضي الله عنه. It was just going past everyone.

So people along the way are asking him:

"O Jabir, we just saw you — you were lagging behind all the way in the back. And now all of a sudden you are moving and you are overtaking everyone else. What happened to your camel?" He said:

"What can I tell you? The barakah, the blessings of the Prophet ﷺ touched my camel. Nothing else."

The Prophet ﷺ Buys the Camel

Nabi ﷺ could have left it at that. Jabir رضي الله عنه had a problem. The Prophet ﷺ solved the problem. But Nabi ﷺ wanted to see how he could add further value into the life of Jabir رضي الله عنه — how he could bring joy and comfort and happiness to him. Nabi ﷺ now notices Jabir رضي الله عنه all the way in the front. So he comes to Jabir رضي الله عنه a second time:

"O Jabir, how is the ride going?" So Jabir رضي الله عنه is like, it's amazing — my camel is moving so swiftly, everything is going right. Nabi ﷺ then says to Jabir رضي الله عنه:

"O Jabir, can you sell me your camel? I really like your camel. I want to buy it." So Jabir رضي الله عنه is like — now it's a clash of emotions. The time to sell it was when it wasn't moving. Now it's moving. Everything is going well. Now the Prophet ﷺ is asking me to sell it to him.

"I can't sell it to you. I will gift it to you. You take it, it's yours." Nabi ﷺ said:

"No, I'm not going to take it for free. I want to buy it from you. Sell it to me, O Jabir." So Jabir رضي الله عنه says, I can't make a price — obviously, how are you going to set a price in front of Rasulullah ﷺ? "O Prophet ﷺ, you make an offer. Whatever amount you want it for, you can take it." So Nabi ﷺ says to Jabir رضي الله عنه:

"Can you sell me your camel for one dirham?" To contextualize it, that's like somebody saying today, "Can you sell me your car for five dollars?" — that's a joke, you're not being real. So exactly what Jabir رضي الله عنه says:

"One dirham? I'm gonna sell you my camel for one dirham? Tagbinunni — that's like cheating." So Nabi ﷺ says:

"Okay, can you sell it to me for two dirhams?" Again Jabir رضي الله عنه says, "When am I gonna sell this camel to you for two dirhams?" — like a person saying, "I'll sell you this car for ten dollars." It's nothing.

So the Prophet ﷺ continued to increase the price until they finalized on one uqiya of gold — it was a measurement of that time. That amount of gold, the Prophet ﷺ would give to Jabir رضي الله عنه. So Jabir رضي الله عنه says, "Okay, perfect. But just one thing, O Prophet ﷺ:"

"Can I make one condition on this transaction — that I ride it to Madinah? Because I don't have any other ride. We're out in this battle of Dhat al-Riqa. How am I going to get back to Madinah Munawwarah? I need my camel. So can I just ride it till Madinah? And then we'll conclude the sale once we reach home."

Nabi ﷺ says to him:

"Go ahead O Jabir, you can ride your camel until we reach Madinah."

In the narration of Tirmidhi, Jabir رضي الله عنه says:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1393)

"In that conversation, after they concluded the transaction, the Prophet ﷺ starts making du'a for Jabir رضي الله عنه." He says:

"Jabir رضي الله عنه said, I started counting — in that one majlis, that one interaction that we had, 25 times the Nabi of Allah ﷺ made du'a for me: اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِجَابِرٍ — O Allah, You forgive Jabir."

Returning to Madinah

Nabi ﷺ notices that as they come close to Madinah Munawwarah, Jabir رضي الله عنه starts to move even faster — he's moving very, very swiftly. So the Prophet ﷺ asks him:

"What's all the hurry for? Why are you moving so fast, O Jabir?" He said:

"I just recently got married. We've been away from home. I'm waiting to go back home and to see my wife." Nabi ﷺ asks him:

"O Jabir, did you get married to somebody who's young like yourself? Or did you get married to someone who's a little bit older?"

He says, "I got married to somebody who was older than me." So Nabi ﷺ asks him:

"Why didn't you get married to somebody who was of your age? You could have enjoyed the initial moments together and you could have grown together. Why did you get married to somebody who was much older than you?" So he says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2097; Sahih Muslim, Book 22, Hadith 1579)

"O Prophet ﷺ, my father passed away in the battle of Uhud. He was from the shuhada of Uhud — Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Haram رضي الله عنه. He left behind nine sisters. I had to take care of them. So I decided to get married to a woman who was much older than me, so that she could be like a partner to myself and she could also be like a motherly figure for my younger sisters."

Nabi ﷺ said:

"O Jabir, you have your priorities in order. O Jabir, you have your compass in order." And the Prophet ﷺ then allowed Jabir رضي الله عنه to leave and to go ahead of the rest of the army. And he reached Madinah first.

The Prophet ﷺ Returns the Camel

When they got back to Madinah Munawwarah, Jabir رضي الله عنه waited for the Prophet ﷺ to come. And it was his habit:

Whenever Nabi ﷺ would return from any journey, he would first stop by the Masjid, and he would perform two rak'ahs, and then he would go home after that. So as the Prophet ﷺ came to the Masjid and he was performing his Salah, Jabir رضي الله عنه came and left the camel outside the Masjid — he tied it and left it. So when the Prophet ﷺ came out:

He sees this camel in front of the Masjid. "So what's this camel doing over here?" So people told him, "Jabir رضي الله عنه came and he left this camel here." Nabi ﷺ said, "Yes, I had purchased it from Jabir رضي الله عنه." And then he called Bilal رضي الله عنه, and he told him:

"O Bilal رضي الله عنه, go to Jabir رضي الله عنه, give him the uqiya of gold that I am owing him, and give him extra also — above and beyond what we already settled for, give him a little bit of extra." So that's exactly what Bilal رضي الله عنه did. Jabir رضي الله عنه sees this:

"What is this extra money over here?" So Bilal رضي الله عنه said:

"I don't know — the Prophet ﷺ told me to give you the uqiya, and he told me to give you some extra. So this is the extra." He said:

"I'm going to hold on to this extra, this gift that the Prophet ﷺ gave me. I'm never going to separate from it."

Thereafter Nabi ﷺ sent one person to call Jabir رضي الله عنه. And when he came, the Prophet ﷺ asked him:

"O Jabir, did you receive the money that I sent for you?" He says, "Yes, and جَزَاكَ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا — for the extra that you gave me, I received that also." Nabi ﷺ told him:

"O Jabir, the camel is yours — I'm gifting it back to you. The uqiya of gold that I gave you is yours, and the extra that I gave you, that is also yours."

Nabi ﷺ had no intention of buying that camel from Jabir رضي الله عنه. But he just wanted to tap into the life of Jabir رضي الله عنه, understanding that he was going through a lot of stress at that time. His father had passed away. He was going through the grief of that. He had nine sisters that he had to take care of. He had the debts of his father that he had to pay off. So look at how beautifully the Prophet ﷺ brought happiness and joy and comfort to Jabir رضي الله عنه.

He could have just given him the money — like a handout. But that would have been insulting, that would have been demeaning to Jabir رضي الله عنه. So in this beautiful manner, the Prophet ﷺ buys his camel, and then he gifts it back to him, gives him the money, and gives him additional also. This was the Sunnah, this was the character of our beloved Nabi ﷺ — always bringing happiness, always bringing joy to those around him.

Tapping Into the Lives of Others

The most beloved of all actions is to bring comfort, is to bring joy to those around us. But how often — everyone wants to feel happy, everyone wants everything to go right in their own lives — but how often do we tap into the lives of others? Into the lives of those around us, into our parents, our brothers, our sisters, our teachers, our neighbors. How often do we reach out and say, "You know what, today, I want to bring a smile to somebody else's face."

Once I was attending one janaza, and after the brother, rahimullah, was buried, people gathered around and they were making du'a. And all of a sudden from the back, one brother came rushing forward. And he came, and he just broke down in front of the grave of this brother. And he started making such powerful du'a for him. And from amongst the things that he said in that du'a, he said:

"Ya Allah, this individual who passed away — this was my neighbor. And ya Allah, one of the last things that he did in his life was that he helped me out. I was going through some difficulty, I needed some assistance. This neighbor of mine, he came to my rescue. He helped me out. And just a few hours after that, he fell ill and he passed away." And this brother was crying so much and making du'a for him.

Now look at the indelible impression that that left on him. The memory that it left on him — that he made it a point to attend this person's janaza. And he made it a point to make so much of du'a for this individual. And this is what happens when you tap into the life of somebody else. When you bring joy and comfort to somebody else, they will continue to remember that. Long after we have left this world, insha'Allah, they will continue to make du'a for us. And beyond that, imagine the reward that we will receive from Allah, because this is the most beloved of actions to Allah.

The Closing Words of the Poet

I conclude with the words of one poet, where he says:

He says: "O insan, you came into this world in such a state that you were crying. As a baby, you were crying. And everyone around you was happy — they were laughing. 'Pick up the baby, let me hold him, let me kiss him, let me cuddle the baby.' Everyone around you was happy. But you as a baby, you were crying."

He says: فَاعْمَلْ لِيَوْمِكَ — "Perform such actions. Leave such a mark. Tap into the lives of those around you. Such that the day you pass away, people around you are crying, and you are laughing. You are smiling. Everyone else is sad, they are grieved on your passing. But you are happy, because you have a very high station in the court of Allah."

It doesn't take much to bring happiness to others. Sometimes it's just a simple salam. Sometimes it's just holding the door for the person who's walking out of the Masjid after us or behind us. Sometimes it's picking up an elderly person's shoes and putting them on the rack. Small, small deeds that we do, insha'Allah, will become a means of us bringing happiness and joy, of us bringing a smile to the faces of others. And insha'Allah, perhaps this will be a means of our entry into Jannah.

In English they say: "Some people bring happiness wherever they go. Others bring happiness whenever they go." May Allah make us from the former and not the latter. Ameen, ya Rabb al-'alameen.

Announcements

Our annual benefit dinner will be taking place at Shalimar Banquets at 6pm with our guest speaker, Sheikh Hussain Abdulsattar. If you have not yet purchased your tickets, kindly do so by registering at our website, masjiddeas.org/benefit, or you can scan the QR code which is posted in the lobby.

Please save the date for our 7th Annual Winter Intensive, which will be taking place from Saturday, December 21st through Tuesday, December 24th. More details will be announced shortly.

Our weekly programs include Team Fajr, which will be continuing tomorrow after Salatul Fajr. Fajr iqama is at 6:15am. Our Tuesday Tafsir will continue after Isha Salah — currently we are covering Surah Fussilat. And the weekly Urdu Seerah program happens every Thursday after Salatul Isha.

We have a special program tonight after Isha, insha'Allah. There is a jama'ah visiting us all the way from Palestine — we request everyone to join us for the talk which will be taking place after Salatul Isha.

Du'a Requests

Of course, our brothers and sisters in Palestine and across the entire Ummah — please do remember them in your du'as. Also, Sheikh Ibrahim Shahajan who passed away in Kentucky — may Allah grant him Jannatul Firdaus. Dr. Haseem Saham and his father, who are regular musallis at Darus Salam until the opening of Masjid Isa — please make special du'as for the maghfirah of his deceased brother and sabr jameel to his wife. Brother Arif Shaqeen is very ill and he is in the ICU — please make du'a for shifa for him. And our brother Ahmad Abdul Hakim passed away in India.

May Allah grant all those who are sick in the Ummah of Nabi ﷺ shifa kamilah. And all those who have passed away, may Allah grant them all Jannatul Firdaus. Ameen.